


Little Shades of Blue

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Series: 31 Days of HQ Halloween [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical Tattoos, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 04:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21191660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Bokuto has always been in love with Sawamura but Sawamura has a different soulmate.





	Little Shades of Blue

Koutarou hummed to himself as he finished the kare-raisu, he kept the spices mild but added plenty of meat. He thought it was the perfect thing to eat after walking around Tokyo all day, especially when the rain hit and they ended up being not only cold but completely drenched too.

Daichi had come to visit and Koutarou couldn’t have been happier. They had ended up going to the same college, playing on the same volleyball team for almost three years until Daichi had to quit to put more focus on his studies. Koutarou had ended up joining the national team and while they hadn’t seen each other in a long time they had remained close. There was nothing Koutarou enjoyed more than facetiming Daichi after a hard day of practice. Daichi was always full of the best advice, he was encouraging and never seemed to get annoyed if Koutarou got down on himself.

After the Olympics Koutarou had ended up back in Tokyo and had instantly invited Daichi to come visit to check out their old haunts and do all the touristy things they had been too busy to do during college. Koutarou made sure to add plenty of food stops on his grand tour, there weren’t many people who could eat Koutarou under the table but Sawamura Daichi had always been one of them.

“Right on time! The food is done.” Koutarou grinned over his shoulder at Daichi who smiled warmly back at him. His cheeks were still pink from the hot shower but then he frowned as he looked at Koutarou’s still damp hair.

“You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t properly dry your hair.” Daichi motioned him over, taking the towel from around Koutarou’s neck and covering his head. Koutarou bent down obligingly, eyes closing as he enjoyed the sensation of Daichi’s hands on him, even if it was only through a towel.

Koutarou had been in love with Daichi probably since they were teenagers. It was something Koutarou had just learned to accept like the fact that he loved volleyball or fall was his favorite season. He never tried to push for anything more. Daichi had been raised in a traditional household, which meant the only person he would consider to be in a relationship with was the person who bore the same soul tattoo. That hadn’t ended up working out so well in Daichi’s case. Koutarou didn’t know the full story, he wasn’t sure anyone truly did but one day Daichi was happy with his soulmate and the next he was wearing high collars and long sleeves to cover up the fact that his tattoo had shrivelled up on his skin.

Koutarou couldn’t imagine anyone leaving Daichi, let alone falling so far out of love that their tattoos died on their skin. He knew Daichi caught a lot of attitude from other people if they caught sight of it. Some people had the misconception that dead tattoos meant the person baring them was unlovable, cold and callous. Koutarou had never met someone as warm and loving as Sawamura Daichi was.

“There.” Daichi hooked the towel back around Koutarou’s neck, smiling in a way that made little wrinkles appear near his eyes. They were faint, they were only 32 after all, but they were there and whenever Koutarou was close enough to see them he had the overwhelming urge to place a kiss there.

“Thanks!” Koutarou stood up straight, using the distraction of food to center himself.

“That smells great,” Daichi complimented him, making Koutarou bristle with pride.

Koutarou was older now. He didn’t allow himself to fall into deep dark depressions on the daily, though they still happened occasionally but years of therapy helped him deal with it in a more helpful and productive way. He was still impulsive, loud, and almost always cheerful but it had been tampered with age and experience. No matter how strong his feelings became for Daichi he would never dump them on the other man. Yet that wouldn’t stop Koutarou from showering him in, strictly platonic, love and affection.

They talked and caught up. Daichi worked for a small advertisement company back in Miyagi, he had only been there a couple months but he finally found a job that he looked forward to going to every morning. He had nothing but good things to say about his co-workers, even the ones who teased him relentlessly for his sometimes old fashioned behaviors. Koutarou admitted that he was considering retiring, or at least playing on a smaller scale.

“I love meeting new people and all the places we get to travel too is awesome, I’m lucky to have been able to do it all for so many years but-” Koutarou twirled a chopstick around his fingers as he tried to find the words. They had finished eating a while ago and should probably start heading to bed but it seemed neither of them were quite ready. “I feel like I’m missing out on a lot here. My sister is about to have her third kid, I wasn’t here for the first two and now the oldest is five years old! She’s walking around, talking like a little adult.”

“There are probably a couple dozen high schools that would fight to have you teach at their school.” Daichi offered and Koutarou laughed, scratching the side of his nose as he looked away.

“I was thinking younger.” Koutarou hadn’t thought he’d use the degree he graduated with but every year that passed the more he realized he wanted too. “I fell in love with volleyball when I was a kid, I think most of us did and I want to be the reason some kid like me carries that love on with them.”

“I think you would be perfect for teaching kids about loving volleyball.” Daichi smiled, big and warm and Koutarou’s heart flopped down at his feet. He then gave a big, jaw cracking yawn and Koutarou glanced at the time.

“Shit, it’s pretty late and your day started early to get here.” Koutarou gathered the empty bowls, shooing Daichi away when he tried to help. He left them in the sink for later, earning a laugh out of Daichi before they walked to the bedroom together. “Take the bed.”

“Kouta-”

“Daichi,” Koutarou started, placing his hands on Daichi’s shoulders and trying not to think too hard about the warm muscles beneath his palms. “You were on a train all morning then walking around Tokyo, I know your back is hurting you and it won’t thank you if you sleep on a lumpy, spare futon.”

“I am getting old.” Daichi said, giving up without a fight.

“I could give you a backrub if you want?” Friends could give friends backrubs, right? It was totally platonic. Daichi looked as if he was considering it before his hand curled around his left side and his face closed down of all emotions. “Damn, I’m sorry Dai.”

“No it’s-” Daichi sighed, letting his hand drop from its protective stance against his side where his soul tattoo rested, or the remains of the tattoo rested at least. “It’s been over five years, I shouldn’t be so touchy about it, right?”

“I don’t know if that’s something anyone gets over.” Koutarou said hesitantly. He didn’t like the shuttered look in Daichi’s normally warm eyes.

“It doesn’t even look as bad as it once did, have I told you that yet?” Koutarou shook his head. “It’s almost as if it’s healing which is ridiculous, I’ve read just about every article about dead marks. They don’t heal.”

“Can I see?” Koutarou asked before his mind could catch up with his mouth. “Only if that’s okay! You don’t have too, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No.” Daichi rubbed his neck and Koutarou deflated. “Sorry, I meant no it’s fine, you can- you can look.” Daichi hesitated for a long moment, long enough that Koutarou almost took his words back, but then he reached down and removed his sweater.

Koutarou couldn’t help the appreciative look of all the unrevealed skin. Back in college Daichi had never been shy but since his soulmate had left him Koutarou hadn’t seen him in anything that didn’t cover him from neck to wrist. Daichi had clearly kept himself in shape, he was apart of his neighborhoods volleyball team and he jogged every morning. He wasn’t as fit as he was in college but then again most former college athletes never were.

Koutarou forced his attention to the tattoo on Daichi’s side. Soul tattoos came in all shapes and forms but they were all variants of flowers. Before a person meets their soulmate their marks appear as small buds. Koutarou had seen Daichi’s when it had been like that, spreading over his left side, curving around his bicep and peeking up his neck. Koutarou had seen it when those buds had started to open, a beautiful shade of pink that spread across Daichi’s dark skin.

There were all sorts of theories on the size of soul marks, along with what kind of flowers. Koutarou never thought either of those things mattered but he had thought the spreading flowers had suited Daichi. Mostly hidden but wide and full of beauty. Koutarou’s own mark spread across the wide expanse of his back. The flowers were mostly bloomed, had been since he was a child though he never remembered meeting his soulmate.

Koutarou had caught a glimpse of Daichi’s soul mark, just after his soulmate had left him. It had looked twisted and withered, painful in more ways than one. It wasn’t back to his previous health, but it looked like something that had weathered through a particularly harsh winter but had still managed to hold on somehow.

Koutarou had always thought Daichi brave, but he could see how much this meant to him. How nervous he was though he stood still. So Koutarou decided to draw attention away from the tattoo instead of towards it.

“That’s where they took out your appendix, right?” Koutarou asked, fingers hovering over the revealed scar. Koutarou had been there when Daichi’s appendix had burst. It had been one of the scariest moments in Koutarou’s life. He had been thankful Tetsurou, who was pre-med at the time and always good in a bad situation, had been visiting at the time.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Daichi brushed his own fingers against the faint scar. It had been after that that Daichi had decided to quit volleyball and focus on his studies. Koutarou had missed a couple practices and classes keeping Daichi company in the hospital as he recovered. His coach hadn’t been pleased but Koutarou still believed it was worth all the suicide drills in the world.

“What’s this from?” Koutarou motioned to a scar a little higher up. It looked deeper than the appendix one, more jagged.

“I fell out of a tree when I was young, that’s where my rib came out.” Koutarou gave an alarmed cry as Daichi laughed. “Yeah that had been my reaction too.”

“What about this one?” Koutarou asked, fingers brushing against a very faint and thin scar on Daichi’s clavicle, almost covered by one of the healing buds. Both of them sucked in a deep breath when that bud shifted just the tiniest bit. “I’m sorry-”

“Touch it again.” Daichi said. Koutarou automatically reached, his index finger tracing along the small bud. He watched as it reacted to his. It wasn’t the full bloom that was caused by a soulmate but it was something. Koutarou couldn’t help but flatten his hand against Daichi’s side, felt and saw him take in a long and deep breath as they both watched the mark with rapt attention. Koutarou couldn’t be positive, they changes were subtle, but he was sure that the stems looked a little greener, the buds had a hint of color hidden inside them. “What does this mean?” Daichi asked, breathless.

Koutarou reluctantly dropped his hand which made Daichi look up at him.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything.” Koutarou offered. Daichi’s eyebrows raised in a question. “I love you.” Koutarou confessed despite having every intention not to but it felt right at that moment. “I have for years now and I’ll probably feel the same for years to come. You’re my favorite person and that’s not going to change if you don’t feel the same, or if you don’t want to feel the same.” Because Koutarou knew there was a difference between feeling something and wanting to feel that way. Daichi might return Koutarou’s feelings but there’s a possibility he does not want too, which was well within his right.

“You’re my favorite person too.” Daichi said, his hand coming up to protect his side once more. “But what if one day that changes for you?”

“Ten years of experience says it won’t.” Koutarou admitted with a shrug. Daichi’s eyes widened at that, at the full scope of Koutarou’s feelings.

They ended up sharing the bed, though not much of anything happened in it. They were exhausted, too tired to be having such a serious conversation. They weren’t sleeping, though Koutarou could see Daichi’s exhaustion in the heaviness of his lids. Koutarou rested his head on Daichi’s shoulder, fingers lightly tracing his tattoo in the darkness. He could feel Daichi slowly relaxing under the touch, his body losing its tension.

“Do you think it was your feelings that started healing it?” Daichi asked, voice soft with sleep. His hand was up the back of Koutarou’s shirt, resting between his shoulder blades. Neither of them could see Koutarou’s tattoo but he believed it was probably at full bloom right now.

“Maybe.” Koutarou answered. He couldn’t see well but he liked to imagine that the buds held the same pastel blues and purples and pinks that his own flowers had. “Mostly it was probably you. Your strength to move on, your strength to allow yourself to love someone else.” Koutarou grinned against Daichi’s shoulder, earning a huff of laughter from the man beneath him.

They still had a long journey ahead of them and if Daichi woke up the next morning and wanted to take it all back, Koutarou would allow him. But he thought he knew the other man better than that, knew that they were both heading on the same path together. It might take a long time but Koutarou was fine with that.

They drifted off to sleep together, Koutarou’s hand spread across Daichi’s side. The bud he had first touched almost seemed to curl beneath Koutarou’s finger, opening just enough to reveal a sliver of pale blue flowers that matched the ones in full bloom underneath Daichi’s palm.

**Author's Note:**

> October 10th, 2019 - 10. Pattern


End file.
